ESPN Ratings Hit 41 Year Low

[Dirty Old Man]

Lack of live sports to show plus abandoning sports coverage for activism is making this iconic brand a pass for former viewers.

...but mostly the lack of live sports to show.

 

[Bakayoko Ono]

The - strikingly one-sided/liberal - politicization of American sports media is quite interesting. I believe political topics and "picking a side" are something sports media has traditionally tried to avoid so that they wouldn't alienate audiences that have different political views or those who follow sports to "escape" real-life issues.

Social issues and movements are inherently political in nature; the idea of social activism is to influence policy- and lawmaking.

 

[supsens]

Used to be must see watching for me. Love the 30 for 30 and the shorts they do.
Overall the death of Espn for me was when they went into yelling hot take shows back with bayless.
Didn't mind PTI, but adding around the horn and all the other clown car shows just sucked.

I'll watch actual sports on their
channels, nothing else more.

You should watch the losers on netflix, they are a great collection of sports stories.

 

[KingsFan7824]

I used to watch sportscenter all the time back in the 90's.
I doubt I've watched even once in the last 20 years.

 

[GindyDraws]

They SUCK at producing content

Damn, they're losing to the Frat Boys & Assholes Sports Group.

 

[Breakers]

Damn, they're losing to the Frat Boys & Assholes Sports Group.

Yeah because ESPN sucks at making content
The lead is fastest-growing sports media brand on the web - They have the entire "The Athletic" under their branch which is a part of wondery
Pat Mcafee - the fastest growing sports Youtube Show is under westwood one. Espn should have kept him

 

[adsfan]

I moved on from them as the leader in sports at the end of the 80s. And stopped watching all together when I lost interest in basketball towards the end of the 90s. I can't say I regret that decision. They seemed to have gone into a realm that I have no interest in.
Perhaps they need a new identity. I probably will never watch them again for more than an occasional look. But maybe they can build back up a larger audience.

This is pretty close to my opinion. Or an old identity.

I also miss Bob Lee and Gail Gardner. Neither one were hype merchants, like Chris Berman.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

This is pretty close to my opinion. Or an old identity.

I also miss Bob Lee and Gail Gardner. Neither one were hype merchants, like Chris Berman.

The Rich Eisen/Stewart Scott Sportscenter was can't miss. They had so much amazing chemistry and the shows were always fun. Now I don't think I've watched a full Sportscenter in 20 years.

 

[awfulwaffle]

The Rich Eisen/Stewart Scott Sportscenter was can't miss. They had so much amazing chemistry and the shows were always fun. Now I don't think I've watched a full Sportscenter in 20 years.

I mean back then they never stood in front of giant video screens and have an "analyst" talk about the draft or dissect a play. It was purely highlights, scores, and some funny catch phrases.

 

[HisIceness]

they decided that fans wanted more TMZ style content for some reason. They decided to latch on to certain players to the point that it was completely nauseating and moved away from a highlights and analysis focus that they had been previously some time between when I started college (late 90s) and left college (2003). The focus on LeBron early in his career even back to his last year of high school was the canary in the coal mine and by the time Tebus became a star at Florida it was in full swing.

Oh yeah, I forgot how much ESPN loved "gossiping" about Tebows personal life during his UF days. It was borderline stalkerish and disgusting at times. They sort of brought it back when he was playing for the Broncos (and then briefly the Jets) but by that time, they had also moved on to their next "crush", Aaron Rodgers.

Sometimes I felt like I was watching some day-time talk show aimed at the 25-49 y/o female crowd. I didn't know a soul that cared for that shit, we just wanted sports highlights and news. Not sure why that was too much to ask.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Oh yeah, I forgot how much ESPN loved "gossiping" about Tebows personal life during his UF days. It was borderline stalkerish and disgusting at times. They sort of brought it back when he was playing for the Broncos (and then briefly the Jets) but by that time, they had also moved on to their next "crush", Aaron Rodgers.

Sometimes I felt like I was watching some day-time talk show aimed at the 25-49 y/o female crowd. I didn't know a soul that cared for that shit, we just wanted sports highlights and news. Not sure why that was too much to ask.

Always felt bad for Tebow. It was crazy what they were doing to him

 

[Lt Dan]

Oh yeah, I forgot how much ESPN loved "gossiping" about Tebows personal life during his UF days. It was borderline stalkerish and disgusting at times. They sort of brought it back when he was playing for the Broncos (and then briefly the Jets) but by that time, they had also moved on to their next "crush", Aaron Rodgers.

Sometimes I felt like I was watching some day-time talk show aimed at the 25-49 y/o female crowd. I didn't know a soul that cared for that shit, we just wanted sports highlights and news. Not sure why that was too much to ask.

Well said

ESPN should have stuck to sports instead of going full MTV and doing everything but their original mission statement.
I haven't watched in years and don't even have the channel anymore, but they spend more time talking about themselves; ESPN the weekend, ESPN Radio, etc
Their reality shows and original programming were beyond awful.
Sports are an escape and they forgot that

 

[Tahoeblue]

Well said

ESPN should have stuck to sports instead of going full MTV and doing everything but their original mission statement.
I haven't watched in years and don't even have the channel anymore, but they spend more time talking about themselves; ESPN the weekend, ESPN Radio, etc
Their reality shows and original programming were beyond awful.
Sports are an escape and they forgot that

Agree 100%. I do listen to Fox Sports Radio as they mostly steer clear of politics. Plus, you can't beat their lineup. For me, ESPN focuses too much on Basketball as well. NHL Radio on Sirius is wonderful!

 

[Look Up]

All going according to plan.

Subscribers off 6% yoy.

Looks like cancel culture has come to ESPN.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

So is "cancel culture" good or bad?

Also nobody should be surprised that the already falling subscriber count has escalated for a sports channel during a period where sports weren't even going on.

 

[Fatass]

All going according to plan.

Subscribers off 6% yoy.

Looks like cancel culture has come to ESPN.

Do cancel culture people like sports? Is that why ESPN is struggling? Or is ESPN catering to cancel culture, and sports’ fans don’t want that type of programming?